Coburn Runs to World-Leading Steeple

The past weekend was a historic one for college track and certainly made up for any lack of fast distance running action over the past few weeks. Penn Relays! Drake Relays! Stanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational! Hillsdale’s Gina Relays!

As we transition from April to May, athletes cannot help but have thoughts of the quickly approaching championship season. The sense of urgency to punch a ticket to the NCAA meet has been illustrated in the explosion of the weekend’s fast results.

Drake RelaysAt the Drake Relays, Tulsa sophomore Chris O’Hare mixed it up with the big boys in the mile. The field included Kenyan Boaz Lalang, South African and Saucony-sponsored athlete Peter Van Der Westhuize, and American record-holder in the mile, Alan Webb. O’Hare finished less than a second behind winner Lalang and 0.003 seconds ahead of Alan Webb, good enough for fourth place. Lalang finished in 3:58.26, just ahead of runner-up Van Der Westhuize’s 3:58.33. O’Hare and Webb finished with times of 3:58.761 and 3:58.764, respectively.

For the women at Drake Relays, Coe College's Keelie Finnel (pictured at right) ran the fourth-fastest 800m time in Division III history. Her time of 2:06.83 earned her a win in the unseeded college/university section. In the combined results of seeded and unseeded sections, Finnel’s time was the second-fastest for the meet. Payton Jordan Cardinal InvitationalStanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational solidified its title as the best invitational for the 10,000m after last year’s American record-setting run of 26:59.60 by Chris Solinsky. DII athlete Amos Sang, the senior from Abilene Christian University in Texas, continued his divisional dominance by winning the second section of the men’s 10,000m with the time of 28:20.35. His time is the sixth-fastest time ever run in the history of Division II.

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In the premier men’s section, also known as the Kim McDonald 10,000m run, an unprecedented 19 runners broke the 28-minute barrier, including two NCAA athletes. Arizona’s Stephen Sambu and Iona’s Leonard Korir set themselves a top the NCAA performance list, by almost 50 seconds, and well under the Olympic A standard of 27:45. Sambu finished seventh overall with the time of 27:28.19, while Korir was a half step behind, finishing in eighth place with the time of 27:28.22.

The women’s Kim McDonald 10,000m featured only one collegiate runner, New Mexico junior Natalie Gray, a native of the UK who finished second-to-last among the 18 finishers but still ran a PB of 33:20.31. But that wasn’t the fastest collegiate women’s 10,000m effort of the night. In the women’s second section, run after midnight local time, UTEP senior Kathya Garcia, a native of Mexico, finished sixth in 33:18.61. Both women vaulted themselves into the top 10 of the NCAA list.

In the fastest section of the men’s 5,000m, five runners ran faster than the previously NCAA leading time of 13:34.19, set by Arizona’s Stephen Sambu. Stanford’s Elliott Heath led the way with a second-place overall finish with the time of 13:26.15, just under the Olympic B standard of 13:27.00. Oklahoma State’s Thomas Farrell and Northern Arizona University’s Diego Estrada also finished under the Olympic B standard, finishing in the times of 13:26.59 and 13:26.94, respectively. Stanford’s Chris Derrick (seventh) and North Carolina State’s Ryan Hill (ninth) finished in 13:29.74 and 13:31.67, respectively.

In the fast section of the women’s 1,500m, Oregon sophomore Jordan Hasay set the fastest NCAA mark of the season with the time of 4:10.28. Her time is currently 10th on the IAAF’s world top marks list. Remarkably, four of the times ahead of her on the world list were run in the same race, as Hasay finished fifth overall. Sacramento State’s Lea Wallace, who has the NCAA season’s second-fastest 800m time, showed incredible strength in the race, finishing a second behind Hasay in 4:11.31, earning her seventh overall.

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Oregon’s Steve Finley became the first NCAA athlete to break the 8:40 mark in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase. Finley finished ninth place overall with the time of 8:36.98. Air Force senior Justin Tyner crossed the line right behind Finley with the time of 8:37.54. Also in the race, Nebraska senior David Adams set the NCAA season’s third-best mark so far with his time of 8:40.31, placing him 13th overall.

The story of the Cardinal Invite lies in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. Emma Coburn, a junior from coach Mark Wetmore’s storied University of Colorado program, followed in the steps of former Buffalo Jennifer (Barringer) Simpson, setting an NCAA and world-leading time of 9:40.51. She won the race by 8 seconds over Asics-sponsored athlete, Sara Hall, who finished in 9:48.85. Kansas junior Rebeka Stowe set the NCAA season’s second-fastest time, finishing in fifth overall with the time of 9:53.12.

In the second section of the men’s 1500m, you couldn't help notice that Oklahoma State's German Fernandez didn’t have much left in the tank over the last lap. Although it looked like he might push for the win on the backstretch, Fernandez, the 2009 DI champion, was reeling in reverse as Canadian Anthony Berkis dashed down the final straight to win in 3:42.54 and Colorado School of Mines junior Mack McClain, the defending national champ at Division II, snuck in for second.Lastly, in the fast heat of the women’s 800m, Helen Crofts from Canada’s Simon Fraser University (an NAIA school that will enter the NCAA Division II ranks at the start of the next school year) placed fourth in 2:02.68, a time ranks No. 1 among NAIA runners and No. 15 in the world.

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Penn RelaysAt Penn Relays, Virginia’s Robby Andrews unleashed his trademark closing speed in the College Men’s 4x800m Relay Championship of America, blowing by Penn State rival, Casimir Loxsom, for the win. Last summer, Loxsom outkicked Andrews at the World Junior Track and Field Championships at Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, for the silver. Andrew’s kick at Penn Relays added the finishing touches of a 1:46.00 split and a relay time of 7:12.15.

Also at the Penn Relays, in the College Women’s Distance Medley Relay Championship of America, the Georgetown relay of Renee Tomlin, Amanda Kimbers, Chelsea Cox and Emily Infeld ran away from stacked teams from Tennessee and Virginia for the win. Infeld’s closing 1,600m leg of 4:31.56 assured the victory and a winning time of 10:51.49, over Tennessee’s second-place time of 10:56.20. Georgetown’s time was only 3 seconds off of the American record of 10:48.38, set at Penn Relays in 1988 by the Villanova team of Kathy Franey, Michelle Bennett, Celeste Halliday and Vicki Huber.

Gina RelaysThe Gina Relays, hosted by Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., featured some of the fastest times run for Division III athletes. The Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich., duo of Greg Whittle and Alex Wrobel (who are coached by former Olympic steepler Brian Diemer) paced each other to the season’s second- and third-best DIII 1500m times of 3:50.60 and 3:50.73, respectively.

In the men’s 5,000m, Calvin junior Nick Kramer finished second in 14:17.70, just a few steps behind Central Michigan freshman Tecumseh Adams. Junior Makorobondo Salukombo of Denison University finished was third with a big PR of 14:18.83. Wisconsin-Platteville’s Nate Petsch and Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Nate Stymiest, both juniors, were the next DIII athletes to cross the line in 14:22.69 and 14:23.73, respectively. Chris Marker of Allegheny College made his first appearance on the list at the No. 10 spot with his run of 14:28.39.

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Sophomore Christy Cazzola of Wisconsin-Oshkosh set herself on top of the DIII performance list in the women’s 1,500m with the time of 4:24.36. Her time also places her at No. 6 on the all-time DIII list at that distance, not far from professional athlete Missy Buttry (No. 3 all-time, 4:20.86 in 2003).

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